Evaluation of the Reasoning and Rehabilitation Cognitive Skills Development Program Implemented in Juvenile Intensive Supervision Probation in Colorado, 1994-1995 (ICPSR 2028)

Citation

Pullen, Suzanne, and English, Kim. Evaluation of the Reasoning and Rehabilitation Cognitive Skills Development Program Implemented in Juvenile Intensive Supervision Probation in Colorado, 1994-1995. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-03-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02028.v1

Summary

This study was a program evaluation of the Reasoning and
Rehabilitation Cognitive Skills Development Program, an educational
program that taught cognitive skills to offenders, as implemented in
juvenile intensive supervision probation in Colorado. Using an
experimental design, researchers sought to measure the extent of
change in attitudes and behaviors due to the cognitive skills program
by administering pre- and post-test interviews. Researchers also
measured recidivism by conducting interviews with probation officers
who supervised the offenders in the sample six months after
termination from intensive supervision. These interviews were
supplemented with administrative records data that provided background
information about the sample. In addition, administrative data were
collected on all juveniles sentenced to intensive supervision during
fiscal years 1994 and 1995 to compare juveniles in the sample with all
juveniles in the intensive program. Variables in this collection
include cognitive measures, such as impulsivity, problem-solving
ability, egocentricity, and cognitive style. Other variables measure
emotional responses to various situations, attitudes toward the law,
values, drug abuse, program participation, and
recidivism. Administrative data include age, gender, ethnicity,
offense of conviction, and basic assessment data.

Citation

Pullen, Suzanne, and English, Kim. Evaluation of the Reasoning and Rehabilitation Cognitive Skills Development Program Implemented in Juvenile Intensive Supervision Probation in Colorado, 1994-1995. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-03-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02028.v1

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Time Period(s)

1994 -- 1995

Date of Collection

1994 -- 1995

Data Collection Notes

The codebook and data collection instruments are provided as
a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by
Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such
as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.

Study Purpose

The Reasoning and Rehabilitation Cognitive Skills
Development Program was developed by Ross and Fabiano in 1985 as an
educational program that focused on teaching the following cognitive
skills to offenders: problem-solving, consequential thinking,
means-end reasoning, social perspective-taking, critical reasoning,
abstract reasoning, creative thinking, and values. In 1992 the
Colorado Office of Probation Services incorporated the Reasoning and
Rehabilitation Program as a requirement for young offenders placed in
juvenile intensive supervision probation. While previous research had
evaluated this cognitive skills program for adults, this project was
designed to evaluate the outcomes of this program as implemented in a
juvenile setting. In particular, it sought to answer the following
questions: (1) Did the program work to change attitudes, thinking
patterns, and behaviors? (2) Did the program have an impact on
post-termination rates of recidivism? and (3) For which types of
offenders did the program work best?

Study Design

To evaluate how well the Reasoning and
Rehabilitation program worked in juvenile intensive supervision
probation in Colorado, the researchers developed an experimental
design whereby clients were randomly assigned to participate or not
participate in the cognitive program. To measure the extent of change
in attitudes and behaviors due to the program, clients in both the
treatment and control groups were administered pre- and post-test
interviews based on two instruments. The first was a slightly modified
version of a semi-structured interview developed by the authors of the
program as part of a larger cognitive skills assessment battery. The
second instrument was a self-administered 70-item battery of
statements measuring concepts related to crime and criminal attitudes
that respondents were asked to rank on a Likert-scale format. These
measures were designed to assess the extent of change in cognitive
skills and functioning among the sample in nine areas: (1) ability to
recognize that problems exist, (2) ability to solve interpersonal
problems, (3) ability to think of and develop alternatives, (4)
awareness of consequences, (5) ability to set and achieve goals, (6)
level of egocentricity, (7) social perspective-taking, (8) level of
impulsivity, and (9) cognitive style. To measure recidivism rates of
juveniles in the sample, researchers conducted interviews with
probation officers who supervised the offenders in the sample six
months after termination from intensive probation. Recidivism was
measured by rearrest for a new crime. These interviews were
supplemented with administrative records data that provided background
information about the sample. In addition, administrative data were
collected on all juveniles sentenced to intensive supervision during
fiscal years 1994 and 1995 to compare juveniles in the sample with all
juveniles on probation.

Sample

Random sampling.

Universe

Juveniles sentenced to juvenile intensive supervision
probation in Colorado between 1994 and 1995.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individuals.

Data Source

Data Type(s)

survey data, and administrative records data

experimental data

Description of Variables

In Part 1, Pre- and Post-Test Data, variables
include cognitive measures such as impulsivity, problem-solving
ability, egocentricity, and cognitive style. Other variables measure
emotional responses to various situations, attitudes toward the law,
values, drug abuse, program participation, and recidivism. Part 2,
Background Data, contains variables on age, ethnicity, index crime,
risk score, and need score. Part 3, Juvenile Intensive Supervision
Probation Data, contains information on all intensive supervision
participants at the time of the study, including gender, age, and
offense.

Response Rates

Not applicable.

Presence of Common Scales

Original Release Date

1999-11-02

Version Date

2006-03-30

Version History

1999-11-02 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Standardized missing values.

Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

2006-03-30 File CB2028.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one
or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well
as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable,
and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to
reflect these additions.

Notes

The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented.